'Unoriginality'

[aderyn]

To be honest I don't get into a sweat about my work being 'original' so long as its not a clone of another novel #cough Sword of Shanarra cough#.

If you try to be deliberately unique, then you will more than likely become very stilted, because you have forced your writing into a mould. Better to write where your heart takes you, because then even if your novel is not the most original in terms of ideas, it will at least be engaging to read.

Agreed!

 

[grahamguitarman]

Another excellent point! I wish I could have been this articulate.

I must be having a good day today - sometimes I can talk total bull###t LOL

 

[San Cidolfus]

I think the question has been satisfactorily answered, but there is something left to add. Most people aren't looking for something original: they're looking for something good. If your story makes them laugh, makes them gives a damn about your world and the people in it, then what else matters? If you bring them somewhere THEY'VE never been before, then what's it matter if someone else has been someplace similar?

Don't deliberately rip off someone's work, but don't sweat it if someone's work inspires you to try new and different things. We all draw inspiration, and good work inspires more good work. It's not a vicious cycle of plagiarism, it's the way human beings build off each other.

We write because it's in our blood to do so, and fans read because they want to experience a little magic in their lives. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.

 

[Dark Huntress]

I don't believe in originality because it is impossible to prove. You would have to read every book ever written to know if a story is truly original. No one can do that. I do believe that the way a story is told can be original. There are 7 billion of us and I don't believe in duplicity of thought.

So I think originality is a two edge sword. The theme of the story, even the plot, may be taken from another story but the way you tell the story will make it yours.

There are no new plots but there are new ways of telling it.

 

[Voldermort]

There are no new plots but there are new ways of telling it.

As Kal Bashir says, "There is really only one story. Every story you have ever seen or read is essentially an alternate situation superimposed, with individual style, over the same structure."

There's beauty in that there statement.

 

[sashamerideth]

I know there's a saying: "Nothing is original"..or something along those lines.
I don't really believe in that, though. I feel something can be original in its own right, provided it doesn't seem like a cheap carbon copy of what it drew inspiration from. If the same idea is executed very well, it does in a way gain 'originality' status.

I have this problem. I constantly avoid being unoriginal- when it comes to crafting my own story.
That being said, I try my best not to

My conscience..is a douchebag. He always restrains me from drawing on other sources for inspiration. He says it's 'copying' or being unoriginal. And I have a big problem with that; every time I come up with something, it goes through some kind of 'originality screen test' in my head, to ensure that years from now (when I finally publish my book) my book won't be under the scrutiny of trolls and critics who would call it a copy of another source.

Yes, yes, I know I said I don't really believe in the saying "Nothing is original", and I wan't to prove to certain people that I can be original in my own right. But at times it seems like an irrational waste to not draw on other sources.
Of course, archetypes and conventional norms of fantasy are welcome..otherwise it won't be called fantasy at all.
The real question is; does drawing from another source make it unoriginal? Is it wrong to be unoriginal in first place? What is 'unoriginality'?

For me, originality comes in how we shape a world that we have devised. We can draw on inspiration from what others have written, often the first step to mastering an art is copying the masters, but that only works until we find our own style of writing.

Say I write a tale with a band of merry fellows, orcs, goblins, dragons and magical artifacts, I could be very easily accused of ripping off Tolkien, but the macguffin, the big bad, and other story elements are tropes of not just fantasy, but of storytelling in general. Subverting these tropes is currently the trend, and has led to some good stories, both on here, and in published novels.

It may be true that what you do has been done before, but that does not mean that I have already read it or am familiar with it. Yours may be the first story I read with elements in common with a story I have not read, so to me, yours is original.

Sent from my NOVO7PALADIN using Forum Runner

 

[Jess A]

I think people have covered the other related topics I would discuss.

If you have a good idea, go with it, even if you later discover that someone else had the idea and you did not realise it.

Great minds think alike.

Two entirely different people, uninfluenced by each other (perhaps influenced by different things) can come up with a similar idea, be it a species in a story or a guitar riff in a song.

As for 'the journey' - isn't life a journey? Lord of the Rings probably wasn't the first story written or told about a journey. You cannot copyright an idea.

That said, actual 'theft' in my view is a blatant, unmistakable thing if you know what came before it. You asked us what 'unoriginality' was. Check out Deviant Art. There are numerous squabbles to be found over 'traced and copied art'.

 

[YohannIan]

You know, I once read an amusing post on this subject on a different forum. The author complained about his writing being derivative, and then listed a long list of famous writers he considered himself "too similar to." His descriptions sounded like that author, his characters were like this author's characters, his plots reminded him of a third author, and so on. All aspects of his writing was inspired of some other author, but it was never the same author.

And all I could think to say was: "So, basically, your writing isn't really that similar any of these people?"

Look, there isn't anything wrong with wanting your style to stand out, and creating something truly original isn't undesirable. It's just one of those things that's nice to have in the extremely rare occasions it happens, usually by accident.

However, consciously creating something completely new on a regular basis - as a rule rather then an exception - is not, has never been and will never be a realistic ambition. Obsessing about it isn't just unproductive but directly unhealthy. It's something that destroys promising talents all the time.

YohannIan, you actually are lucky in that you actually seem to realize that you have unrealistic expectations of your writing. A lot of people lack the objectivity to accept that. You just have to keep in mind that what you are experiencing is a trained subconscious emotional response. At best, it's just a bad habit. At worst, it's not too far from mild obsessive compulsion or neurotic perfectionism. Either way, it's something you can train your mind to overcome, and I strongly recommend that you do so before it gets out of hand.

The simple truth is that our priority should be creativity, not originality. As long as you write you will eventually develop a distinct style, because we are all different people who write in different ways. But there must be a joy in creating these stories. We have to enjoy them. And the best way to enjoy our writing is to draw inspiration from the stories we enjoy reading. That's the only way you will create anything that is genuinely good.

"Originality" in the common sense is actually a matter of fusing older ideas in such a way that they feel fresh, or approaching them from a different perspective. I find that the best way to achieve this is to take the direct opposite approach - be open to your influences and increase them. Have as many different stories as you possibly can in that catalogue in your head, so that eventually they all harmonize and blend into something that isn't quite like anything you have ever read.

Thanks a lot man! And all you other guys!
I'll try not to worry so much on the originality part. But I do have to keep an eye out for certain things right? When creating content and coming up with the elements, is there anything I need to be careful about? (anything related to this Originality issue)

Ps: Anders, your opinions are very helpful! I see things in new light now. Haha!
It may seem like an unrealistic ambition..but I don't think it's wrong to try. Just like how, going to the moon, at one point in time, seemed unrealistic.

 

[zizban]

I wrote my first published novel, Ouroboros, (coming soon to an ebook reader near you!) because I wanted to read books like the Vlad Taltos series but no one else was writing them, so I wrote something like it. Original? Not 100%. Original enough to stand on it's own? Yes.

 

[SeverinR]

Nothing is original, but no one can tell your story like you can.

We all have a different perspective, different way of thinking, of describing something. If anyone took a story idea, and wrote a story with it, it would not be the same as the original.

Say a writer on this forum, read the set up of the LOTR. Then was asked to write the story, it would be similar, but not the same.
From the time you first read something, you take in certain aspects of the piece. When you write you draw subconciously on everything you ever read. You add a touch of this author or that, much like cooking. Just a hint of Stephen King, mix with a little Shakespere, a dash of C.S.Lewis, maybe even a little Patterson. You mix up all the spices into your own dish.(Yes even crossing genres)
No matter what you write, it will be different from someone elses even if you start with the same premise.